


The Strange Disappearance of Merlin

by infinitemerlin



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon Saves the Day (Merlin), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Loyalty, Merlin Saves Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27548710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitemerlin/pseuds/infinitemerlin
Summary: Arthur suddenly wakes up one morning to find that Merlin's gone missing. Merlin, kidnapped, is tortured and his magic taken from him. Will Arthur save him? Will he even find him? Will Merlin get his magic back? Will he ever be the same again?
Kudos: 15





	The Strange Disappearance of Merlin

**Author's Note:**

> This is the full story and it's divided into 7 parts here. I hope you like it!

Arthur woke up suddenly, sitting straight up. He jumped off his bed and looked out the window. The sun was high, it was noon already.

Where's Merlin? Why didn't he wake me up?

Arthur put his unpolished boots on and ran out of his chambers, still wearing bed clothes.

"Oh! Gwen, sorry, have you seen Merlin today?" Arthur bumped into her and a tall stack of fresh-laundered sheets.

"No, I dont believe I have, he's not with you?" 

"No, I... I haven't seen him since dinner last night."

"Hmm. Well he'll show up at some point I'm sure. Maybe he just had a long night at the tavern and needs some rest," she gestured. 

"Oh of course! Thank you Guinevere!" He gently and quickly kissed her on the lips and ran around the corner.

Frantically barging into Gaius' chambers and then into Merlin's room, Arthur yells, "Merlin! Where are you?" A disappointed look spreads on his face and his shoulders slump. 

"Arthur, what's the matter?" Gaius asks, pouring water into a potion.

"It's Merlin, I can't seem to find him anywhere, do you know if he went some place last night?"

"No, after he served you dinner he came right back here. We then ate dinner and he went to bed. I thought he was with you this morning?" 

"No, he certainly was not. I'm getting very worried Gaius."

"Dont worry, Merlin can handle himself, whatever it is that he's doing."

"Yes, and thankfully his magic will protect him, as it has me all these years."

"You're exactly right, sire," Gaius replies.

"No matter though, I must find him. Good day Gaius, I'll let you know of any word of Merlin." Arthur leaves to go prepare his horse.   
_____________________

The Strange Disappearance of Merlin (II)

With his horse prepared, Arthur rides out through the Darkling Woods looking for any sign of Merlin, carefully scouring each trail, each branch, for the slightest clue of him.   
_ _ _

"Aghh!" Arthur screams, throwing his sword into the ground; it's been 4 hours and still no sign of him. He stops to rest and takes a seat against a large tree as he drinks from his canteen, desperate for Merlin. 

Arthur.......Arthur......please....

Arthur stops completely, not even breathing. 

Please.....Arthur.....

"Merlin, what's wrong! Where are you?"  
Arthur remembers when Merlin told him that he could communicate with some people telepathically-

But wasn't it only with others who had magic too? I don't have magic, but that's definitely Merlin! Gosh! I wish I could answer him! 

Arthur....th-the...valley...fallen kings...please.

"I'm coming Merlin," Arthur spoke aloud. He jumped up and brushed off his chain mail, picked up his sword and rode to the Valley of the Fallen Kings as fast as he could.   
He rode through the night, and by morning he was in the valley.   
"Merlin!" Arthur yelled, "Merlin! Where are you! Merlin!" 

Shh....they'll come....for you...too...

Arthur paused. Worry now consumed him. His heart could not bear for Merlin to get hurt, let alone to not see him everyday for the rest of his life. 

Arthur got off his horse and went looking for Merlin, his sword at the ready.   
_ _ _  
After an hour of quietly searching for him, Arthur suddenly heard a few noises in the woods around him.  
"Merlin?" Arthur whispered. All at once, four men came out from all different angles and attacked him. Arthur swung and easily stabbed the first man, then turned around and swiped the second. He battled the last two at once, luckily one of them dropped their sword which gave him the perfect opportunity to get the other one, and finally he stabbed the last man. Then the sound of a horn blew, and Arthur heard a short rustling at the top of the hill in front of him. 

He ran up the hill and stopped. After looking around for a moment, Arthur saw a dark brown lump on the ground by a tree trunk, almost completely covered in leaves. 

What is that? He thought, stepping closer. Then, he dropped his sword, taking a final step near the brown lump.  
He grabbed a stick off the tree and poked the suspicious thing, it seemed soft. 

Wait. Is this...is this...  
"Merlin?" Arthur knelt down and brushed off all of the leaves revealing Merlin covered in mud laying in the fetal position.   
"Merlin? Oh gosh, what have they done to you?" Arthur wiped the mud off of Merlin's eyes and began to cry. Then Merlin slowly opened his eyes. 

"Arth....Arthur."

_ _ _

The Strange Disappearance of Merlin (III)

"Are you okay?" Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin and sat him up, keeping an arm over his shoulder right next to him. He continued wiping mud off of Merlin's face. 

Merlin leaned against Arthur and rested his head in the crook of his neck, Arthur's chin on top of Merlin's head. Merlin grabbed Arthur's other hand, both sitting on his knee. Merlin started to sob; tears streamed down Arthur's face. 

"You're okay, Merlin. I got you."  
"No I'm not...my magic...it's gone," said Merlin in between sobs.

It's gone?" More tears fell down Arthur's face.  
"Yes."  
"We'll get it back," Arthur sniffles.   
After a moment of silence Merlin speaks, still sobbing, but quietly,"I'm so tired, Arthur."

Arthur rubs his shoulder, "I know...but you're strong, Merlin. What did they do to you?"  
His sobs grew louder, "They tortured me."

"But that doesn't make sense, why would they do that?"

"They wanted me to kill you. They kept saying, 'You kill the King or you die,' and they tortured me so I'd make up my mind. Eventually, they thought they killed me, but I played dead, and they dragged me through the woods and dropped me here," he cried.

"Merlin, you shouldn't have kept on resisting."  
"I wasn't going to kill you, Arthur."  
"I'm sorry for what they did to you. It's my fault."  
"No, it's not. It's no one's fault."

Arthur reached under his chain mail and his red coat and tore off a piece of cloth from his tunic. He dipped it in a puddle and started wiping the mud off of Merlin's chin and neck.  
"Ow!" Merlin winced as Arthur wiped his neck.   
"Wh--Merlin, you've got bruises all on your neck! What did they do!"

"They strangled me!" Merlin sobbed louder, "And they shackled my hands and feet, but they put them in hot coals first so that my skin would burn. They punched me and strangled me and drowned me. They stabbed me," Merlin shows Arthur his hand that's been pressed on his right side all this time, it's covered in dark red blood. "It's so painful, everywhere..."

"Oh gosh Merlin! We need to get back home, we need Gaius. If we leave now we can make it by nightfall. Please, just keep pressure on it. Can you walk?"

"I don't know," Merlin tried to stand up with Arthur, but he toppled back and Arthur caught him. Then he tried to take a step, but he collapsed, now totally in Arthur's arms. 

Merlin closed his eyes, "I'm so tired."  
"We have to go," A tear fell from Arthur's face as he picked Merlin up to carry him back to the horse.

Merlin suddenly opened his eyes when he felt the jolt of being sat on the horse. Arthur grabbed cloth from his saddlebag and put it under Merlin's hand on his side.

"It's too deep, the bleeding won't stop. I don't have a lot of time."  
"Well then the bleeding's gonna have to stop, isn't it?" Arthur gets on the horse and they set for Camelot.

_ _ _

After an hour or so of riding Merlin says, "I can't even heal myself. And we won't even make it home in time."

"We have to try, Merlin. Has the bleeding stopped?"

"No, I'm bleeding out."

"We're still about 4 or 5 hours from Camelot, you got to hold on."

"I won't last that long. I have about 2 hours, Arthur." Tears fell from Merlin's face. 

Arthur looked up at the sky for a glimmer of hope. He sighed, then picked up the pace of the horse. Merlin rung out the cloth, soaked with his own blood, and pressed it back onto his side. He closed his eyes.

_ _ _ 

2 hours passed. Arthur stopped the horse and got down. He went over to Merlin and woke him up. Then he looked around at the scenery, watching the branches and the orange and red leaves dance in the wind as the sun glimmered through the forest. Arthur stepped closer and examined the path they were on. He grabbed his map to compare. Biting his lip, he threw it down.   
"Arghh!!" Merlin's head shot up at the sound of Arthur's scream.   
"We've been heading south. Camelot was west of the valley. Merlin, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I went in the wrong direction! How could I have been so stupid!" 

"Arthur, it's alright. It doesn't matter anyway. I've already fulfilled my destiny. Albion is united, magic is freely practiced in Camelot. I've got nothing left to do." Merlin weakly rung out his cloth again.

"Yes it does matter! Merlin! You are not dying here today!"

A large, loud rustling sound suddenly came over the forest. It was coming from ahead.

"Do you hear that?" He asked Merlin, whose eyes were shut again. He walked the horse and Merlin down the trail, and soon they came upon the Lake of Avalon. Arthur stopped, "it's the Great Dragon."

Kilgharrah was flying above the lake, dipping his foot into the water and gliding across. He noticed Arthur and flew towards him. 

"Hello, King Arthur."  
"Kilgharrah." Arthur nodded his head in acknowledgement.   
"I've been expecting you."  
"You have?"   
"Yes, you come during a very desperate hour."  
"It's Merlin. I was trying to get to Camelot so Gaius could save him, but I've been going in the wrong direction and there's nothing I can do for him anymore. Please, you have to help him."

"That is why I am here."

The Strange Disappearance of Merlin (IV)  
"You'll help him?" Arthur's eyes shown a sparkle of hope.

"Yes. Merlin freed me all those years ago, and while I have helped him along the way, now is the time to truly repay him for his actions."

"Thank you, thank you so much."

"It is not you who should thank me, young king, for it is I who should thank Merlin." Kilgharrah approached Merlin and incanted something, then he breathed into Merlin; Arthur could feel the wind and the power of his breath, and with it were sparkles that seemed to heal Merlin from the inside out.   
"Merlin will still be weak and exhausted, but he will live. He will wake in good time. Worry no longer."

"Thank you so much."  
Kilgharrah looked at Arthur. "There is one thing I cannot do, Arthur. I do not have the power to restore Merlin's magic." 

"That's okay. We'll go to the crystal cave where it can be restored."

"Have you not heard? After the battle at Camlann, before Morgana went looking for you two, she sent her men to destroy the crystal cave because of the good that they did to Merlin."

"They're gone? How will Merlin get his magic back?"

"He cannot lose what he is. Magic is woven into Merlin's very soul. He must simply believe in himself, in his magic."

"That sounds simple enough."

"Back when Merlin first lost his magic, the crystal cave helped to fuel his belief in himself. I fear that without it, Merlin will have a difficult time restoring his magic. This belief in what he is must be strong, it must be unbreakable. Without an ounce of doubt or question. It must be stronger a belief than Merlin has ever had in his abilities."

"How will he do that?"

"You must go, Arthur, you have the entire kingdom waiting for you," and with that, Kilgharrah flew away. Arthur threw his hands up in confused frustration; then he approached Merlin who was still sitting up on the horse asleep. He put an arm around him and pulled him in closer, their foreheads pressing together. Arthur smiled as a tear rolled down his cheek. "You're going to be okay, Merlin." He hopped on his horse and they set for Canelot. 

After a couple hours or so, Arthur stopped to check on Merlin. He rubbed Merlin's shoulder and his eyes opened. 

Merlin reexamined himself and brushed off his jacket. He felt his side and there was no more blood, not even an open wound, he was totally healed. 

"How are you?" Arthur asked.  
"Wow, I feel great!"   
Arthur breathed a sigh of relief.   
"Did we get to Gaius in time?"  
"No, we went in the wrong direction, remember? We were near the Lake of Avalon and Kilgharrah was there. He healed you."

"Oh, thank goodness."  
"He wanted me to thank you for him, for everything."  
"Well, I should be the one thanking him." Merlin smiled, "How far are we from Camelot?"

"About 4 hours still. We should make camp here for the night. There's someone's old fire we can use," Arthur gestured. 

"Great, I'll start it," said Merlin as he happily walked over to it. He said the fire incantation but it didn't work. He tried again. And again. Sadness rushed over his face as he held in a cry. He indignantly walked over to Arthur, "Kilgharrah could restore my magic, could he?"

Arthur looked down, "I'm afraid not."  
Merlin looked up at the sky in frustration, "The crystal cave is destroyed. What am I supposed to do?" 

"Kilgharrah said that you need to believe in yourself, and believe in your magic. It can't leave you, it's a part of your soul."

"Okay," he walked back over to fire and tried again, "I believe in myself." Still nothing. He tried again and again, trying to find the right mental space for his magic go come back. Nothing he did made any difference. Arthur walked over and put a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "It's alright, I got it." He bent down and lit the fire with flint. 

"Nothing I tried worked, Arthur."  
"It's okay, it will come back."  
"Yeah, well what if it doesn't? What if since my destiny is fulfilled my magic doesn't matter anymore, what if it's useless now?"  
"It's not, Merlin. You can't doubt it."  
"But I am doubting it! Those abductors put that--that thing on my face like Morgana did once before! I have good reason to doubt it!"  
"But you--you just can't, okay! Because just sitting here and doubting your magic - that's what's useless! It's utterly and completely useless! Stop sitting around and sulking!" Silence fell and Arthur walked away, "I'm watering the horse." He said plainly.  
Merlin sat around the fire with his back to Arthur and put his head in his hands.

Off with the horse, Arthur was thinking: 

Poor Merlin, I shouldn't have yelled at him. He's been through so much and I just had to add on to it all. 

"Arthur," Merlin approached from behind and leaned against a tree about 5 yards away.

"Merlin I'm sorry," Arthur immediately turned around to face him,  
"stop. It's okay." Merlin replied, "besides, how can I expect much better when you're a spoiled, arrogant, royal prat?" He smirked. 

Arthur smiled and laughed, acting surprised; Merlin laughed. 

"Hey," said Arthur, "how are you doing, really? I mean you were just abducted and tortured after all."

"Honestly?" Merlin asked. Arthur nodded. "I'm traumatized. And I'm tired. And I feel like no matter what I'm doing, or how life is going, it just gets ruined for me. It's like I can't ever be...just...happy. And I'm so tired of fighting. I'm always fighting, for my life, or for yours, or Gaius or Gwen's, or against these types of awful people where every situation is life or death. I'm just tired. I just want to be happy, and for all this fighting to stop. Is that too much to ask for?"

Arthur walked towards the fire and Merlin followed, each of them taking a seat around it. 

"No. That's not too much to ask for. You've been through so much, you deserve every reason in the world to be happy."

"Things were finally starting to feel normal, and great, and I was enjoying every day. Then this all happened and that's taken away from me in one night. It's like I was enjoying life too much, that something had to go wrong."

"I know. But life isn't perfect. These things just---they just happen, and we have no control over it. But we can control how we respond to it. Whether that's sulking," Arthur playfully punched Merlin, "or whether it's hoping, or even celebrating something else that's good that came out of it."

"You're right. For once." Merlin laughed. "I need to appreciate the good days so I have something to look forward to during the bad days."

"Attaboy, Merlin! Now you're getting it! They laughed. "Now c'mon, you better get some shut eye. I'll be on watch duty tonight."

"Oh, so sharing my feelings gets me out of watch duty? I'll remember that for later," Merlin smirked as he laid down for the night. 

The Strange Disappearance of Merlin (V)

"Ready?" Arthur patted the horse.  
"Ready." Merlin replied.  
They got on their horse and rode for Camelot. As they rode through the forest the sun followed, and by dusk they were entering the citadel. The news of their return spread quickly throughout Camelot; soon Gwen and Gaius quickly came outside to welcome them home. 

"Merlin!" Gaius said excitedly, hugging him.   
"Glad to be back!" Merlin smiled.   
Gwen hugged Arthur and then greeted Merlin with a hug too.

The four of them walked inside and ate dinner together, Merlin and Arthur both sharing their experiences, and loads of sympathy falling onto Merlin. 

Merlin also explained the trouble with his magic, and how it has yet to return. The three could sense the sadness and frustration coming over him.

As the night winded down, Gaius and Merlin returned to their chambers. They each took a seat around the table and poured some water into their cups. 

"Gaius, I keep on trying to get my magic back, and nothing I do works. I know I still have it in me, but it still won't come back. What do I do?"

"I wish I knew, Merlin. I think all that's left to do it to keep trying, keep believing." 

Merlin sighed. "I guess."

"You can try again in the morning, after a proper night's rest in your own bed."

"Yes, I think I'll go to bed now. Goodnight Gaius." He stood up and started walking to his room.

"Goodnight, Merlin. Oh, and I'm so glad that you're safe now. I missed you." 

Merlin turned around. He smiled and nodded, "I missed you too."

\- - -

An hour later, as the darkness of the night had finally settled, there was a knock at their chamber door. Gaius, who was still awake and reading, answered it. 

"Arthur? What's the matter? It's late."

"I know, I'm sorry to disturb you, Gaius, but I must speak with you." Arthur came in and sat down after him. "It's about Merlin. Well, Merlin's magic. Khilgarrah said that Merlin must have a stronger belief in himself and his magic than ever before. That there cannot be a single ounce of doubt in him. But because the crystal cave is destroyed, it will be very hard for this strong of a belief to grow in him. So we have to help."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" 

"We put Merlin in a situation where he can't possibly doubt himself. Because I've seen him try to get his magic back, and in a normal situation I don't think it's possible."

"What kind of a situation are you suggesting?"

"Something more serious. What if we pretend that I've been abducted, and Merlin has to use his magic to save me?" 

"Well, I suppose that might work. How do we create such a scenario?"

"Tomorrow morning I can assign the knights to a post quite a few hours away. They can leave before Merlin wakes up. I can then go somewhere in the opposite direction, I can find a cave or something, and act like someone has tied me up there. Merlin will have to go looking for me and-" 

"How will Merlin know where to go? And how would he use his magic to save you if you were only tied up?"

"I can leave clues that I've been abducted in my chambers, and I'll leave an obvious path of my route that he can track in the forest."

"And Merlin using his magic?" Gaius asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. Do you have an idea?" 

"Only one comes to mind. I don't know how you'll like it, but if you were to chain yourself up in the cave, Merlin would have to use his magic to break them.   
Although you would have to use very strong chains."

"Yes, that would work!"

"You're okay with being chained up in a cave all day?" 

"Yes, that's the only way I can think that Merlin could get his magic back. I have to do it for him."

"That's very considerate, Arthur."

"Merlin would do the same for me. Now, is there anything else we could do just to ensure that he would get his magic back?" 

"Hmm, what about a snake?" 

"A snake?"

"Yes, there is a type of snake that lives in the forest of Ascetir. It is very friendly, but when it gets hungry and cannot find food, it viciously attacks anything in it's way. If you bring enough food with you, you could catch one of these snakes and keep it in the cave with you. I'm sure you could manage to feed it every so often as well, despite being chained up. If you tell Merlin the snake was conjured of sorcery, he could kill it with sorcery to protect you from it."

"That's brilliant, Gaius!" Arthur hopped up and went to the door.

Gaius stood up, "you're sure you want to do this, sire? It's dangerous."

"Yes, I have to do this! It's the only way to help Merlin believe in his magic. I've got to go. I'll see you soon, Gaius. Thanks for your help!" Arthur ran out the door.

The Strange Disappearance of Merlin (VI)

The next morning Merlin woke up at his usual time. He ate an apple and went to work on trying to get his magic back. He read through books and tried certain spells but nothing worked. 

"Good morning, Merlin. How long have you been up?" Gaius asked.

"About an hour," he flipped through a book, scanning for a helpful page.

"Don't you need to go wake Arthur up?" 

"No, it's okay. I'm sure he understands that I'm busy with this. He can get up himself today."

"But Arthur has quite a busy day, I'm sure he needs you to help him with it."

"Eh, he'll be fine." 

"Don't you need to help him write a speech too?" 

Merlin finally felt Gaius' pressure. He set his book down and looked up at him.   
"Yeah, he needs help writing a speech. I guess I can go get him up so we can work on it." Merlin stood up.

"Very well. See you later, Merlin."

"Bye Gaius."

Merlin walked into Arthur's room, "Let's get going Arthur! Up and at 'em!" He walked closer to Arthur's bed, only to find it empty. "Arthur?" A blanket and pillow were on the floor, and papers scattered all over. Merlin looked across the room and saw a bloody sword on the ground. He bent down and swiped his finger on it; the blood was dry. He ran out and went to find Gwen. 

Merlin burst into the throne room and found Gwen and some council members. "Merlin? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." 

"Arthur. He's not here, he was taken."

"Taken? Gwen stood up and Merlin explained what he saw in Arthur's room. "Well, we have to go find him! But- agh! All of the knights were sent on a post far away this morning!"

"I'll go find him."

"No, let me come with you too!"

"No, Gwen, I can't let you come. These people seem dangerous. If they have Arthur they might get you too. Camelot needs a queen, so you need to stay."

She looked down, trying to act disappointed as Arthur had instructed her to. "Really?"

"Yes. I'll find him."

"Okay, but please be careful."

Merlin looked at her and nodded as he left. 

After getting his horse and entering the forest, Merlin immediately picked up on a trail. 

Meanwhile, Arthur had just wrestled with a snake and had finally placed it in a box. He gave it some food beforehand and was now racing to get to the cave so that all of this could be over and done with sooner.

Finally, he found the cave. He went and hid his horse, then brought the chain, the snake and the food into the cave. He walked down a ways and let the snake out, then walked back to the spot where he would chain himself. He put the pack of food behind him, then sat down and chained his feet, and then his hands behind his back.

An hour had passed and suddenly Arthur heard a kind of shrieking from the cave. He reached for a piece of meat and flung it towards the snake, but it didn't go very far. He could hear the snake slithering, closer and closer towards Arthur. Suddenly there was a loud smack and then the slithering became quieter. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Come on Merlin...hurry," he said quietly to himself. 

The Strange Disappearance of Merlin (VII)

Many hours passed and the sun was now high in the sky. Merlin was continuing to follow the trail left by Arthur with ease, and he should soon stumble upon the cave in only a few hours now. Merlin stopped by a small creek to take a quick break. He squat down and splashed his face, then looked at his hands, seeing the sun beautifully reflect off of the water in his palms. He then looked up, noticing how the sun shone through the trees and the small, delicate waves of the creek. He looked back at his palms, closed his eyes, and incanted something. Upon opening his eyes he was hopeful to see the light lift up and dance on his hands, but when he did they were no different than before. He shook the water off of his hands and aggressively moved them through the water, creating a big splash. He exhaled sharply and stood up, getting back on his horse and following the trail.

Meanwhile, Arthur was slowly running out of food. He didn't expect the snake to be hungry so often and now he only had a few pieces left. Maybe only enough to last two hours. Doubts and fears slowly started to fill his mind.

What if I run out of food? What if the snake attacks? How am I supposed to get out of these chains? Why did I think it was a good idea to capture this snake?Why didn't I think this through better? How could I have been so stupid to not give myself a way out just in case! Even worse, what if Merlin gets attacked by bandits and isn't coming? How will I know he's okay? Is he even still following the trail? What if he found a different one? How do I know he's even going in the right direction?!

"Ugh!" He said sharply, hanging his head.

"Well what do we have here?" Someone asked. 

Arthur's head jolted up but he couldn't see anybody's face, only an outline of their figure. "Who are you?" He demanded. 

"That doesn't matter. I'm only here to ensure that you won't ever leave this cave." They walked past Arthur, then turned around and looked at the food behind his back. Arthur tightened his grip on it. The person bent down and tried to pry his fingers off of it but was no use. Arthur heard the sound of a knife being flicked as the person sliced Arthur's fingers around. He screamed in pain and let go of the food. 

"Why must you do this?" He yelled.

The person walked out of the cave saying, "it is your time, Arthur Pendragon. It is your time." 

Arthur tried to feel where his fingers were cut, but all he could feel was blood and pain. He placed his hands under the bottom of his shirt and tried to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. 

An hour passed and the bleeding hadn't stopped. Suddenly-

Hsssssss. Hsssssss. Hsssssss. 

The snake slithered closer to Arthur, smelling his blood. Arthur turned his head and saw the creature coming closer. His breathing got faster as he tried getting as far away as he could from the snake, but he could only move a few centimeters away. Arthur whined, completely helpless. 

Why did I do this? He thought. Then out of nowhere Arthur heard a horse approach just outside the cave. A few minutes later another figure appeared at its entrance. The figure walked closer to Arthur, who was still desperately trying to evade the snake. 

"Arthur?"

"Merlin!"

"Arthur!" Merlin ran to Arthur-

"Wait! Don't get too close, there's a snake!" Merlin backed up.

"He's getting too close to you!" Merlin yelled as he started getting closer again. 

Just as the snake got within a few centimeters of Arthur it pounced!

In midair, it collapsed onto the ground and laid as flat as a piece of paper. 

"Merlin!" Arthur happily yelled. Arthur looked at Merlin, whose arm was still out and his eyes had just flashed gold. Merlin put his arm down and ran to Arthur, immediately trying to break him out of the chains. 

"How are we supposed to get these bloody chains off of you?" He asked. 

"Merlin? Do you realize what you just did?" 

"Yeah," he smiled inquisitively, "I just killed the snake with my magic."

Arthur's jaw dropped as he smiled. 

"Wait," he said. "My magic. My magic! I just killed a snake with my magic!" 

"Yeah!" Arthur smiled, "all you had to do was believe in yourself you cabbage head!"

Merlin laughed, "I suppose you were right about that bit."

"What? You being a cabbagehead?"

"No, obviously not. It's you who's the cabbagehead."

Arthur laughed, then immediately winced in pain.

"What's happened to you?"

"Some person came in here and sliced my fingers and they-" Arthur stopped, realizing he shouldn't tell Merlin that they stole food from him as that would mean he knew about it prior.

"What! Let me have a look." Merlin looked at Arthur's hands, stained bright red. "Oh gosh, we need to get you out of here. Do you think my magic will work again?"

"Of course." Arthur looked up at Merlin and a small smile showed past the pain.

Merlin incanted something and waved his hand past the chains. They broke. He smiled. "I can't believe it's back!" 

"You did it! I'm proud of you, Merlin!"

Merlin helped Arthur stand up, "thanks mate," he smiled. They walked out of the cave and sat down on some logs near the horse. Merlin ripped some cloth and put around Arthur's hands to wipe up blood, then he used his magic to stop the pain and the bleeding. The wounds then slowly started to shrink before it looked like nothing had ever happened.   
"Better?"  
Arthur looked at his hands, amazed. "Yes! Thank you."

"Now, who was it that came and did that to you?" 

"I don't know. But it doesn't matter. They said it was my time, my time to die, but you saved me. I suppose they were wrong."

"Alright..." Merlin didn't know whether to be concerned or not. 

"Let's head home." He stood up and patted Merlin on the back. 

Merlin took Arthur's word about the strange person and they both got on the Merlin took Arthur's word about the strange person and they both got on the horse.

"We've had quite an intense few days haven't we Merlin?"

"You can say that again. I can't believe all that we've been through."

"Yes, but it's nice to know that we have each other's backs."

"Always. Though, my back's quite a bit easier to hold."

"Is that your slick way of calling me fat?" 

"No! Just- heavy... thick."

"Well that's so much better, Merlin."

Merlin laughed. The sunset began to form and Merlin and Arthur rode off back home.


End file.
